Australia backs UN telco treaty changes

By James Hutchinson – The International Telecommunications Regulations (ITR) treaty, governed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and last revised in 1988, will introduce provisions specific to potential regulation of the internet for the first time in a revision expected to be voted on in December this year.

“We are not going to send in the blue helmets of the UN peacekeepers to police IxPs! And we are certainly not ready to make a grab for global domination,” ITU secretary-general, Dr Hamadoun Touré said.

Cerf, chief internet evangelist at Google, said a successful renegotiation of the treaty would create “significant barriers to civil society participation”, allowing governments to more easily regulate access to the internet at a country level. more> http://tinyurl.com/co7jotr